Apart from Oak leaves - any others you could recommend

[bigbird]

Hello all,

Seeking help on the issue of leave litter for ground cover for apistos.
Apart from Oak is there any other leaf you could recommend or have used ?
cheers

 

[bourdinite]

hello bigbird!
There is also a sheet(leaf) of cattapa but it degrade faster than the sheet(leaf) of oak!!

 

[DH247]

IF you can get them, I have used Indian almond leaves with great results. Stable pH of 5 in my 15G and stable pH of 6 in my other tanks.

 

[bourdinite]

terminalia cattapa is the name for Indian almond leaves !!
it is good but In my tank it dissolved fast

 

[Mike Wise]

Oak, Beech, & the cones of Alders are the most commonly-used leaves of temperate northern hemisphere trees. You can always experiment with native species. Ideally they should be deciduous trees that normally grow in localities that have acid soil (possibly because the leaves help acidify the soil??). It is best to use only dead leaves. Experiment in empty containers first. See if they acidify the water. Then try on some "sacrificial" fish before using on your more prized specimens.

 

[curviceps]

Hi Bigbird, in Australia, indian almond (catappa) grows up north in tropical climates (eg Cairns). So far, I have not found a local source yet (someone who would want to collect the fallen leaves and sell it for peanuts). You can see discussion on this in the local Discus Forums.

They are apparently used in traditional medicines and there are reports that it provides anti-bacterial and anti-fungal benefits in the aquarium. I use them and what does seem to work is that it triggers spawning.

There are ebay sources which sell them quite cheaply, and it gets through customs/quarantine, provided it is declared properly (on the green AQIS sticker).

As the other poster says, they disintegrate rather rapidly, and my latest thought is that since I am using peatmoss-filtered water which is providing the tannins and humic acids, perhaps I should change to some longer-lasting leaves if I can get hold of them.